Season Four
by after.a.hard.day
Summary: after.a.hard.day's Season Four Entries. JoeySeto. YBakuraYuugi. TristinSerenity. MahaadoMana.
1. Gardening

**title:** Gardening  
**pairing:** Joey x Kaiba  
**summary:** Joey and Kaiba walked casually beside each other. Nothing different and nothing the same as it always was  
**rating:** K  
**notes:** Written for Computerfreak101's Yu-Gi-Oh! Crack Pairing Competition. I tried for something bitter sweet.  
**standard disclaimer applies.**

--

Joey and Kaiba walked casually beside each other. Nothing different and nothing the same as it always was. Sure they had been going 'out' in the sense of a relationship of love for at least two months now, before that they just started walking together, as the KaibaCorp building was a block away from Joey's work. Then they had gone out for a drink one afternoon and from there…

But they never stopped walking, despite that Joey now had a car (the point that he had started walking was the absence of vehicle) and Kaiba could probably just of gotten his limo. And it was not as if it were the only time they saw each other.

The path of the walk was simple. Two blocks, then a right, another block and then a left, past an inner city park and then Joey's work, Kaiba would walk the remainder of the next block alone.

It was going into spring now, bright clear spring that had just a little childish hand of winter clinging to it that was slowly loosing its grip. Most of the trees were coming to fruit, but as Kaiba had observed, at the end of the park, one fruit tree stood bare and empty, though for no absence of flowers… just no fruit.

"I wonder why that is?" he remarked.

"Simple, its obviously a female tree and there is no male fruit tree around."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Kaiba looked at Joey who had his hands in his pockets.

"Well, for in most cases for a fruit tree to _get_ fruit, there needs to me a male tree and a female tree near each other, so they can pollinate."

Kaiba blinked, the made a facial expression that might have been a smile. "_Why_ do you know that? Don't tell me you listened in classed or something."

"Well – er – How come you _don't_?"

"The habits of fruit trees have little to do with computers. Just as I am sure they also have little to do with mail delivery."

Joey _hmphed_ and shrugged his shoulders. "My mother told me, she liked gardening."

--

after..day


	2. Tears Of The Sun

**title:** Tears Of The Sun  
**pairing:** Yami Bakura x Yuugi  
**summary:** Undoubtedly, it was done unintentionally. From bitterness of circumstance and just straight cold malice, that was how his heart was stolen.  
**rating:** M  
**notes:** Written for Computerfreak101's Yu-Gi-Oh! Crack Pairing Competition. Dark and twisted, because how else do you write Bakura?  
**standard disclaimer applies.**

"**You make me sick, you make me nervous..."** In My Life, The Ramus.

--

Bakura had stolen many things in his life, Yuugi knew this. From dead bodies to jewels. But the thing that Yuugi never, not once, not for everything, expected the darker half of his British friend to steal, was his heart.

Undoubtedly, it was done unintentionally. From bitterness of circumstance and just straight cold malice, that was how his heart was stolen. Not once did he mention it to the Pharaoh, instead for the longest time, Yuugi thought it was rage – hate – that he was feeling. Because such a strong emotion could never ever, ever, _ever_ be anything else.

And it wasn't until both the damnable thief and the Pharaoh were gone that he felt it. So totally wrong it was to him, that _he_ could _love_ something like _that._ It made him shudder at the thought, but the thought stayed just the same.

He knew exactly what caused it as well, he could specify it to a precise moment, the minute, the second, the breath of air that passed between them of hot summer. Hot... like Bakura seemed to be, not in the perverted sense. Yuugi, despite all outward appearance, could not, would not, describe Bakura as 'hot' like a silly air-brained girl. No, it was hot like the sun upon black tar... upon the sands the thief had stalked like a scorpion... or snake... Despite hiding in the shadows of cold desert nights, the king of thieves, the darker half of his friend, _Bakura_... he... he...

Oh, how he _burned_...

The moment that caused it was late at night, naturally, could it ever be any other time? Yuugi had been staring at cards in his hand, before giving a long look at the moon that watched back through a half open eye. He placed the few cards he had been contemplating back into the deck, got under the soft blue blanket and was just about the drift into unconsciousness, when he heard the scrape of wood that was his window being opened and a almost nonexistent tread on the floor. Cold air played upon Yuugi's bare face and every muscle tensed.

He heard the clink as his puzzle was lifted, the chain around it rattling. Not a second later, Yuugi sprung out of bed, catching the thief by surprise as his foot connected to his chest. Yuugi was friends with Joey after all.

The fair headed thief tumbled backwards, hitting his desk chair, sending it toppling as well, so that he landed awkwardly, one leg trapped in the chair, half turned to the side. He regained his bearings and turned to Yuugi with a sneer of contempt.

"So you can _kick_, can you?"

Yuugi said nothing, instead picked up the puzzle that had been dropped as the thief had hit the ground. Holding the chain tightly he tensed up again, ready to defend himself should the need arise again. He knew he had little chance, that kick was merely because he had surprised the spirit, not that he was a good fighter.

Gritting their teeth, they eyed each other up, weighing options and calculating. Something between them had to give.

"This is a little below your standards, isn't it Yami no Bakura?"

"I suppose it is, but anything is worth a shot, isn't that what you always say? And when have I _ever_ had standards...?"

The question hung before it dissipated, swallowed by the silence. Bakura pulled his lips back into a ugly grin.

"Your reaction is to be expected, I am not the first to try to steal it like this am I?"

Yuugi nodded his head, giving a dark smile of his own.

"So I am not that first..." he gave a cold high laugh. "Not the first to sneak into your room, not the first to steal from you, puzzle or otherwise..."

"The first to steal from me something serious was Joey." Yuugi told him.

Bakura laughed again and took a careful step forward and then another. "I am tired of being second to everyone else... what haven't you had a first of, host of the Pharaoh?"

Yuugi didn't speak, but stood frozen in his tense position of defense against any attacks that may or may not occur.

The thief thought nothing when he pressed his lips against Yuugi's... hot as Yuugi would always remember it, no taste, just a burning _warmth_. His tongue licking across Yuugi's lips, just to taste. When he pulled away, Yuugi's hand slipped slightly on the chain of the puzzle, not sure what he was supposed to do.

It was the reaction the thief wanted, his lip quirked up. "Just as I thought, your first I presume?" He let out a dry laugh and turned his back to the 'foolish boy' and went back into the summer night from whence he came.

Yuugi tried to tell himself good riddance. Harder than anything he had tried to before. But all he could think about was that the warmth was spreading for his lips to his neck and out, till he felt it on the tips of his fingers. He sank back on his bed and held his head in his hands, breathing slowly, grappling at any hook of sanity, but his mind just refocused on the sensations, and not what he told himself what he wanted it to.

He shook just barely and set the puzzle back on the bed side table. He should talk to the Pharaoh, tell him what happened, but knew he couldn't. He didn't want anyone to know how his body was compromising his morals. He lay back and stared up at the plain sealing, sanity crawling back in, gripping him tightly and told him to pull himself together. It slapped in the face and told him not to fall into those depths. Because it was so wild where he was going, and they both knew he simply wanted _peace. _

He had no idea what the thief thought about the situation, but he never mentioned it in all the next encounters they had with each other, because if he had, Yuugi honestly had no idea _what_ he would say or do.

The day that he realized what he had actually fallen into, he took at sharp breath, and pressed his hand to his heart, which had given a cold stab of regret.

Because Yuugi knew, that it was too late and too wrong. The King of Thieves was gone. Dead and buried, in a manner of speaking, below those sands that he had so vehemently pilfered. Yuugi grasped his head again and took slow breaths, trying anything to calm down, accept and move on. He had to move on. He took one hand away from his hair, gripping his school desk so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Of all places to realize he was in love with a twice killed spirit, this really was not it.

Joey noticed first, and touched him on the shoulder. "Are you alright Yuug'?"

Yuugi nodded and lessened his grip on the desk and his hair, calmed down his hard breathing and turned to look outside. A bright bird landed on a branch, happy. But a stealthy cat – a white cat - slunk up behind it, and attacked the twittering creature. Yuugi knew the animals claws were already digging inside the little bird. He closed his eyes to it and turned back to the white board, coping down the poem lyrics that were written across it.

He didn't think anyone would care that the bird had died, in fact it seemed no one saw it but him. They might have cared though, if they had heard the bird scream. But dieing, hopeless, beaten things never screamed, not even in shock.

--

Bakura had done what he had always done, stolen something because it was simply there. But Yuugi wouldn't say a thing, because there was nothing to scream about.

--

afterahardday


	3. Adoration

**title:** Adoration  
**pairing:** Honda x Serenity  
**summary:** He had her arm around his waist, and truly that was all that mattered.  
**rating:** K  
**notes:** Written for Computerfreak101's Yu-Gi-Oh! Crack Pairing Competition. Painfully sweet, and maybe a little sad.  
**standard disclaimer applies.**

--

He had his arms around her waist.

She never thought it was something that would happen, due to her brother's protectiveness and Duke's constant attentiveness to her. But here they were, on her living room floor, looking at each other in quiet contentment, happy and smiles showing every bit of it.

Sure, he wasn't as rich as Duke, as mysterious as Yugi and his other half, as caring as Bakura, or a strong as her brother. But he was _here_, and the silent adoration in his eyes was more than enough. She could have so many other boys, because it wasn't as if she wasn't beautiful and with her sweet temperament… Serenity could have had all of that, and more. Hell, she knew if she tried hard enough, she could even have Kaiba – that was what Tea had told her.

But none of them had the same look of pure love that Tristin had, every single time he looked at her. Sure he could be foolish, at times dense and annoying. But she had enough subtlety for them both, so it didn't matter.

The world would probably need saving (again) tomorrow; it was habit with her brother and his friends. But right now they would lie, not doing very much, in each other arms, occasionally he would press a kiss to her brow and she to his nose. She would giggle at his hair, and he would smile at the dimple on her cheek.

She hopped she could make him feel as loved as he made her. So wanted and _needed_.

He had her arm around his waist, and truly that was all that mattered.

--

afterahardday


	4. Ink Stains

**title:** Ink Stains  
**pairing:** Mahaado x Mana  
**summary:** And he wouldn't have minded so much, had she been doing it on her arm, but no, instead she had pulled up her linen robes, indecently high, and was drawing black ink lines up her outer thigh.  
**rating:** M  
**notes:** Written for Computerfreak101's Yu-Gi-Oh! Crack Pairing Competition. Playful~ Cause I wanted to give ohsoserious!Mahaado something cute.  
**standard disclaimer applies.**

--

Mahaado had told her to practice her papyrus writing, she had nodded with a bland look in her eye and small sigh on her lips. He was busy and she _needed_ to practice her writing anyway, it seemed perfectly sane thing to do. But he should have learned that when her heart was not in something she could not do it very well, nor would she try and this...? Was no exception. Instead she would modify it to something that suited her, that was more entertaining.

But he was not expecting _that_.

He reentered their study rooms in which he had left her to practice, to find her working, but not on the papyrus. She was sat quiet comfortably on a simple chair, her legs pulled up on another one in front of her, writing utensil in hand, but she wasn't working on the fine papyrus, _it_ was scattered unthinkingly on the floor, blown here and there by the wind. She wasn't writing on the papyrus, instead on herself.

And he wouldn't have minded so much, had she been doing it on her arm, but no, instead she had pulled up her linen robes, indecently high, and was drawing black ink lines up her outer thigh.

Willfully he tried to remember all the reasons why he shouldn't be watching the way the ink glided so smoothly across her skin, and that the dark blackness of it really made her skin glow in comparison, or that the way she smeared her fingers in it was not just the tiniest bit exciting.

She hummed as she worked, muttering silly Greek rhymes that she heard from the travelers as the passed through. Sighing again she dipped her writing tool into the ink once more then passively help the brush up above her head, the ink dripped from it, hitting the front of her dress.

"Oh, Ra forsake it!" she muttered, frowning at the stain without much conviction. Mahaado was suddenly reminded of a languid cat. She twisted to look at the stain and in the process of doing so her dress pulled that little bit higher. Suddenly finding it harder to breath, much less find a reason as to why he shouldn't be having so many thoughts about his _apprentice!_ He cleared his throat, attracting her attention. She turned a bright but dazed smile his way, and as discreetly as possible pulled her robe back down, idle fingers managing it modestly.

"You're back!" she smiled brighter then, but her eyes still clouded from the ink stains that had obviously spilled into her mind from the afternoon sun.

"...And you seem to have done your work, just not on the papyrus." he commented dryly. What his voice was so raspy from – sarcasm or desire – was unknown.

"Well..."

"It doesn't matter, its time to for you to focus on your..." his voice trailed off when he spotted what her hair had hidden before, it seemed it was not just her leg she had chosen to decorate. Across her chest, upside down, was the lines to those silly little Greek rhymes. His eye trailed across and down... and straight back up to her eyes before he got any further.

"_The black swans laugh at Diana, give me loves three,_"

"What?" he snapped, coming out of his forced concentration.

"I saw you looking, Master... It must be hard to read upside down." her head turned to the side a cheeky grin on her face. "I didn't write just there." Her hands bunched the material of her skirt and pulled up, and row after row of writings on her legs, up and up till they became swirling lines with images of hawks and jackals. He coughed loudly as it came over knees, not trusting himself to see any further.

"I started writing what you wanted me to write... but I got side tracked." She brushed a piece of hair out of her face, completely forgetting about the ink on her fingers, and so leaving a streak of black across her cheek, cutting neatly along her cheek bone.

"Mana... on you're face."

"What... oh" she looked at her fingers and saw the ink and drew the conclusion about what was on her fingers as well. She giggled and walked toward him, her fingers stretched before her, coming close enough, then left a equal mark upon him.

"See now, we match."

He was close enough now to see the fine lines of concentration on her brow, that odd little freckle under her right eye, as well as all the individual hairs of her eyelashes.

--

When Seto asked him later at ritual cleansing how he got a slightly smeared image of a hawk on his back, he simply told him that Mana had been teaching him the finer points of ink illustrations.

--

after..day


End file.
